"Let the Many Islands Rejoice"-AS TOLD BY GEOFFREY JACKSON

TRANSLATING SPIRITUAL FOOD

In 1980 the branch office  assigned us to work as translators-a work for which we felt totally unqualified.  (1 Corinthians 1:28, 29) At first, we were able to buy an old mimeograph machine from the government, and we used it to print material for our meetings.  We even translated the book The Truth That Leads  to Everlasting Life into Tuvaluan and printed it on this machine.   I still remember the strong smell of ink and the effort required in the intense tropical heat to print all this literature by hand.  At the time, we did not have electricity!

It was a challenge to translate into Tuvaluan, as we had very few reference works to help us.  But sometimes help came from unexpected sources.  One morning I called by mistake at the home  of someone who was opposed to the truth.  The householder, an older man who had been a teacher, was quick to remind me that we should not call at his home.  Then, he said;  "I just want to mention one things.  In your translation, you use the passive form too much. It is not used that often in Tuvaluan."  I checked with others, and he was correct. So we made the necessary adjustments. However, I was amazed that Jehovah had given us this help by means of an opposer who obviously read our literature!

The first piece of literature printed in Tuvaluan for distribution to the public was a Memorial invitation.  That was followed by Kingdom News  No. 30, released simultaneously  with the English.   What a joy it was to give something to the people in their own language!  Gradually, some brochures and even some books became available in Tuvaluan.  In 1983 the Australian branch started to print a quarterly 24-page Watchtower, which gave us an average of seven paragraphs to study each week.  What was the reaction in the community?  Since people in Tuvalu love to read, our literature became very popular.  The arrival of each publication  was announced in a news bulletin on the government radio station, sometimes even making headline news! 

The translation work started with a pen and paper. Later, manuscripts were typed and retyped numerous times before being sent off to the printing branch in Australia. At one time, the branch had two different sisters enter every manuscript into the computer, even though they did not understand Tuvaluan.  This system of entering the text twice and then comparing the differences on the computer resulted in remarkably few mistakes.  Composed pages were returned us via air mail for checking and then sent back to the branch for printing.

How things have changed!   Now translation teams enter the text directly into their computers. In most cases, the corrected text is composed locally, producing file  that can be sent   to the printing branches via the Internet.   No longer is there a frantic rush to the post office to send the manuscripts  off by mail. 

Next time: "Let the Many Islands Rejoice" -AS TOLD BY GEOFFREY JACKSON - FURTHER ASSIGNMENTS

From the Watchtower magazine